Image Source- AFP
Regarding the locations for the Caribbean World Cup
the following year, there seems to be some jostling, confusion, assertions and
counterclaims. Conde Riley, the president of the Barbados Cricket Association
(BCA), one of the organisations that make up Cricket West Indies (CWI), has
claimed to have paperwork that name Barbados as the host nation for the
Twenty20 World Cup final in 2024. However, this claim has been quickly refuted
by top CWI officials.
“Yes, that’s correct… We have documentation
from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and CWI suggesting that Barbados
will be the venue for the final,” Riley, a longstanding president of the
BCA, told on Wednesday, a day after making a similar claim on the Mason &
Guest Radio program in the Caribbean. “Based on the documents from Cricket
West Indies and the ICC, Barbados will host the final, a semi-final, and
several games, including matches involving India and England,” he told the
radio station.
However, CWI president Kishore Shallow contradicted
Barbados’ claim, stating that he has no such information. “Based on the
submissions to the ICC for consideration, the venues for the final and the
semi-finals would be Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. There has been
no communication from the ICC to Cricket West Indies regarding the
finals,” the CWI president informed the same radio program. According to
him, the final decision will be made by ICC in November when a meeting will
take place in India.
Seven locations in the Caribbean have been chosen to
host the World Cup from June 4 to June 30, according to a recent ICC
announcement. They are Trinidad & Tobago, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Lucia,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, and Barbados.
The locations in the US are in Dallas, Florida, and New York.
Riley claimed that the CWI president is aware of
Barbados’ bid when it comes to the seven Caribbean nations that were selected
internally by CWI based on their bids. Jamaica, a significant member of the
CWI, chose not to submit a proposal to host the competition.
The Indian team chose Barbados’ Kensington Oval
stadium as their training ground before the start of a full-fledged series
against the West Indies in July-August. Barbados is a crucial island in the
Caribbean. However, according to CWI sources, Riley has a reputation for
contradicting himself.
“I can confidently say that Conde Riley often
fails to grasp the key distinctions between a proposal, a discussion, and a
final decision. He has a history of conflicting his role as a CWI Director with
his position as President of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA),” a
senior CWI member commented. “CWI needs to part ways with senior directors
like Riley, whose effectiveness has dwindled rapidly in recent years.”